Chile: National Port Workers' Strike, 15-16 February

Public statement by the Unión Portuaria de Chile explaining the reasons for the national strike on 15 and 16 February. [Castellano]

Chile: National Port Workers' Strike, 15-16 February

Public statement by the Unión Portuaria de Chile explaining the reasons for the national strike on 15 and 16 February.

1. On 30 January 2012, the Unión Portuaria de Chile, an organization which has a large membership throughout the country, successfully paralyzed the ports of Arica, Iquique, Mejillones Antofagasta, Chañaral, Caldera, Huasco, Coquimbo, Lirquén, CAP, San Vicente, Schwager and Coronel for three hours, as a warning to the Government of Chile to resolve the conflict sparked off by the State's expropriation of part of the dockers' pay via an arbitrary deduction of income tax, and as a response to need to create a Social Protection Network for workers in the ports of Talcahuano, Coquimbo and Arica for the Tender for these Port Terminals.

2. Despite the large mobilization and the heavy economic losses for the mineral and timber exporter monopolies, the Government ignored the just demands of Chile's dockers, to date no meeting has been agreed nor has there been any serious response by the authorities to the need to find a solution to the conflict.

3. This particular situation has forced us to take the drastic step of paralyzing exports from the country for 48 hours on 15 and 16 February 2012, and to point out that if a satisfactory response to our demands is not forthcoming, we cannot rule out a call for an indefinite nationwide shutdown.

4. We call on all port workers to stay on the alert and be prepared for this 48-hour strike. We call on all workers, students and the people of Chile to show their solidarity with this struggle, to help spread news of the strike and be close to the ports during these days.

The struggle to end injustice in this country has just begun.

¡Arriba los que luchan!

We will win!

Unión Portuaria de Chile

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With a two-day strike, port workers prevented the movement of exports and imports of sectors such as minerals, fishing, fruit and forestry. The demonstration is intended to get the Government to refund second-rate taxes levied over 30 years (from 1981 to 2010) on casual workers.

They are also demanding compensation and pensions for workers who will be affected by the tendering of the ports of Talcahuano and Coquimbo, for 30 workers fired in Arica, and for the creation of an insurance fund against catastrophies.

In this regard, Robinson Ávalos, national spokesman for the Unión Portuaria de Chile said that "it is not our intention to harm entrepreneurs or the economy. This has to go on; if we are driven to this it is because the Government is so intransigent" in managing the demands, and indeed have already told the dockers that will resort to the courts.

He stressed that "the industrialist Leonardo Farkas, owner of several cargo ships in the port of Caldera was so affected by the strike that he sent a letter to the government in an attempt to get them to deal with the conflict and called on them to listen to the workers".

For his part, José Agurto, leader of the Unión Portuaria del Biobío said that "we are hitting the country's economy, closing access to the ports. We are demanding our money and I can't understand why they are so firm on refusing. It's something which is our right and we are willing to talk".

The extent of the strike

This Wednesday at 8.00 am, more than 8,000 workers launched the national dockers' strike in the North (Iquique, Mejillones, Tocopilla, Chañaral, Caldera, Huasco, Coquimbo), in all the Biobío ports (Muelle CAP, Schwager, Talcahuano, San Vicente, Lirquén, Penco, Coronel) and in Puerto Montt.

Also in Valparaíso and San Antonio there were demonstrations in support, as the dockers did not join the strike for fear of reprisals and dismissals. In Iquique, Valparaíso, Concepción and Santiago, students held demonstrations in support of the union demands. Meanwhile on Thursday, workers in Arica and Antofagasta joined in.

Ávalos said that "80% of the ports in the country are paralyzed. The response has been good, but it will not be a success if the government does not call for dialogue, as we will only be forced into a still greater showdown". He added that "on 24th and 25th in Coquimbo, there will be an international congress. If no response is forthcoming, it is likely that we will coordinate an indefinite strike on that occasion in order to make another call to the authorities".

Meanwhile, Pedro Riquelme, spokesman for the Colonel dockers, stressed that "unless we have a solution to our demands we will fight to the end and will not rule out adopting a more radical stance in March". He said that "the demands of the workers must come together - that is why today we have created an export council made ​​up of fishing, mining, forestry and port workers' unions".

Student and trade-union leaders held a press conference in support of the National Dockers' Strike on Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 February.

Among the participants were Felipe Ramirez, General Secretary of the FECH, who emphasized the need to unite the students' demands with those of other social sectors, such as workers.

Manuel Diaz, President of the Federation of Wall-Mart Employees (a trade-union federation that brings together around 8,000 workers around the country), expressed support for the demands of the dockers and also pointed out that this is the beginning a year of protests by workers. He also pointed out several laws that undermine the union struggles such as the Hinzpeter law [a law that will make public demonstrations much more difficult], the labour code, and the recent Supreme Court ruling on the legality of hiring external workers in retail with contracts for short-term jobs and projects, a fact that is detrimental to the minimum guarantees that entitle workers to organize and bargain collectively.

There was also support from the President of the Federation of Teaching Students, Yoxcy Campos, and the spokesmen of the Metropolitan Coordination of Secondary Students (ACES), Carla Díaz and Maximiliano Salas, as well as Rafael Torres from the Sindicato Nacional Jumbo union.

You can find more information here: http://anarkismo.net/article/22117 I don´t know if a machine translation can help a bit to understand... Any way, the important thing is that there was some weeks ago a very important Congress of the dockworkers where the unity of the sector increased. One of the main driving force is the Union Portuaria del Bio Bio, the dockworkers union from the region of Concepcion, where the libertarians are putting big efforts.

Chilean Port workers in 14 northern and southern ports have been on strike,
at various times, since late December 2013. The strike wave began in the
northern Port of Angamos to continue the ongoing fight to win a paid half
hour lunch break for port workers, for the integration of temporary workers
into the union, and for reforms to the dictatorship-era labor law. The
strike then hit other ports, with additional union members striking in
support of the original demands and against the police brutality used
against the Port of Angamos strikers.
Responding to that accusation, Melissa Sepúlveda, President of the
University of Chile Student Federation (FECh), and herself an anarchist and
militant of the Frente de Estudiantes Libertarios and La Alzada, Acción Feminista Libertaria
has issued the following statement. [Castellano]

Only through Direct Action, as seen in the case of the struggling small-scale farmers and the people of the South, who practise it intuitively and as an instinct of their oppressed class, can victory be achieved and the State be brought to its knees. We therefore call on all revolutionary and proletarian forces to exercise this class solidarity, to vigorously and actively support the struggles of the native and peasant communities, in order to prevent social activists from being killed with impunity and stop NAFTA's silent genocide. [Castellano]

Press release of the OCL (Chile) regarding the brutal acts of repression that took place on the 3rd of May in the Arauco province, in Southern Chile, in which the timber worker Rodrigo Cisterna, aged 26, ended up murdered by the Police bullets. We express our deep regret and sympathy towards the family, and our scorn towards the henchmen. The government of Michelle Bachelet is already stained with workers’ blood, exposing itself as nothing but the continuity of the repressive legacy of the previous governments of her coalition (Concertación). No crime, no martyr is to be forgotten. Struggle won’t stop, it will remain on the rise no matter all of their hitmen come out to the street against us to kill us. The people of Chile is waking up from its slumber and won’t be stopped by State violence. With Rodrigo Cisternas and all of our fallen ones in our memory, to struggle and to triumph we go!!!!!

Chilean Port workers in 14 northern and southern ports have been on strike,
at various times, since late December 2013. The strike wave began in the
northern Port of Angamos to continue the ongoing fight to win a paid half
hour lunch break for port workers, for the integration of temporary workers
into the union, and for reforms to the dictatorship-era labor law. The
strike then hit other ports, with additional union members striking in
support of the original demands and against the police brutality used
against the Port of Angamos strikers.
Responding to that accusation, Melissa Sepúlveda, President of the
University of Chile Student Federation (FECh), and herself an anarchist and
militant of the Frente de Estudiantes Libertarios and La Alzada, Acción Feminista Libertaria
has issued the following statement. [Castellano]

Only through Direct Action, as seen in the case of the struggling small-scale farmers and the people of the South, who practise it intuitively and as an instinct of their oppressed class, can victory be achieved and the State be brought to its knees. We therefore call on all revolutionary and proletarian forces to exercise this class solidarity, to vigorously and actively support the struggles of the native and peasant communities, in order to prevent social activists from being killed with impunity and stop NAFTA's silent genocide. [Castellano]

Press release of the OCL (Chile) regarding the brutal acts of repression that took place on the 3rd of May in the Arauco province, in Southern Chile, in which the timber worker Rodrigo Cisterna, aged 26, ended up murdered by the Police bullets. We express our deep regret and sympathy towards the family, and our scorn towards the henchmen. The government of Michelle Bachelet is already stained with workers’ blood, exposing itself as nothing but the continuity of the repressive legacy of the previous governments of her coalition (Concertación). No crime, no martyr is to be forgotten. Struggle won’t stop, it will remain on the rise no matter all of their hitmen come out to the street against us to kill us. The people of Chile is waking up from its slumber and won’t be stopped by State violence. With Rodrigo Cisternas and all of our fallen ones in our memory, to struggle and to triumph we go!!!!!